Pretty
by CloudsAreFluffie
Summary: Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder. Rated for language, sensetive topics, and possible trigger.


_Fucking excellent. _Natalya strode with bitter purpose down the damp sidewalk. She avoided people with practiced ease, furrowing her eyebrows in frustration. _What the hell am I supposed to do? _The girl glanced up at the Friday night sky, stars twinkling somewhere beyond city lights. No one was around; she was alone. He beloved brother had disappeared to god knows where earlier that afternoon. Her friends all had previous engagements. Katyusha was likely at home, but Natalya didn't particularly enjoy spending time with her. If anything, she could watch a movie or read a book or _something_ to keep herself occupied. That couldn't be too hard, could it? The youngest Braginski decided home was the target destination, seeing as it was only a few blocks away.

Upon arriving at the front door, Natalya spent a good three minutes fumbling with her keys, causing a great deal of frustration and only adding to the annoyance she already had built. When the door finally clicked opened, Natalya found that the house was empty. However, that was not uncommon. Once Katyusha was old enough to watch Natalya and Ivan, their parents were almost never around.

_Not that I mind, _Natalya thought snidely, kicking off her shoes. _Those assholes couldn't care less about us._

The blonde's socked feet made no noise on the cold, wooden floor. She made her way to the living room and flicked on the light. Dropping her school bag, she collapsed onto the couch, suddenly realizing she was a bit tired -and with that thought, she yawned.

After a good minute or two of staring at the black television, Natalya reached for the remote, but she stopped sort after hearing a noise; a sort of choke. At first, she didn't think much of it; oh, Katyusha _was_ home. But, then it happened again. With a heavy, melodramatic sigh, Natalya got to her feet and headed down the hall.

"Hey, Kat? Is that you?" she called. The noise came again and Natalya cringed. She knocked softly on the bathroom door. "Kat?" Natalya wasn't a particularly caring person -she would openly admit that-, but she wasn't just going to leave her sister on the bathroom floor if she was sick. "Kat?" She pushed open the door hesitantly, just a little.

Yes, it was Katyusha. But she wasn't… 'sick'.

"Kat, what the fuck are you doing?" Natalya demanded, flinging the door all the way open, anger suddenly taking over. Upon her little sister's entry, Katyusha didn't react nearly as much as expected. All she did was lift her head and pull her fingers out of her throat.

"What are you doing home, Natalya?" she asked calmly, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

"Does that even matter?" Natalya inquired harshly, taking meaningful strides toward her older sister, grabbing her arm and pulling her to feet roughly. The girl's normally kind, bright blue eyes were puffy and red. "You're doing what I think you're doing, aren't you?" When Katyusha didn't respond, all it did was make Natalya _mad_. "Dammit, Kat!" She let go of her with a shove, making Katyusha stumble back a bit. She just stared at her younger sister, eyes sad and straight faced. "What am… what… what am I supposed to do…?" Suddenly, Natalya's anger died down, leaving her simply upset. "What… what am I supposed to do? You're… you're my big sister! You're the one that's supposed to have to tell me about this stuff! What do I do? I'm supposed to look up to you! What should I think? What… what should I…" Natalya shook her head and wished the tears in her eyes would just go away. "What should I do?"

Katyusha didn't speak for awhile. She flushed the toilet with her foot and washed her hands and face. Natalya didn't say anything either. She just stoically watched her sister's movements. After Katyusha finished washing her hands, she held herself up, a hand on each side of the sink basin, her round hips tilted to one side. It was silent.

"…I'm sorry," she said finally. "I'm being a terrible influence, I know. I hadn't counted on you seeing-"

"That's not the problem, Katyusha," Natalya interrupted, her voice bitter and restrained. "It's the fact that you did this at all. It's stupid. Y… _you're_ stupid!"

"You don't understand, Natalya."

"Then explain it to me, because I can't make any sense of this!" Katyusha smiled sadly and shook her head.

"You can't understand, Natalya. You just can't." Natalya gritted her teeth, anger surging back through her.

"Fine. Fine! Go ahead and puke your fucking guts out! See how many fucks I give!" With that, she stormed out of the bathroom, slamming Katyusha in behind her.

Natalya trekked through the living room quickly, grabbing her bag on her way up to her room.

She slammed that door as well, and under normal circumstances she would have noticed the door theme that had been going on. However, she was far, far too upset to even think about doors. Natalya fell back onto her bed and covered her face with her hands. They were shaking.

"It's not just my hands…" she murmured to herself. Her whole body was quivering. "I've never been this scared before." The confession just lingered, floating somewhere near the ceiling light. She was terrified, really. Natalya, though by no means paid any sort of attention in any class (_especially_ Health), knew what happened to people that suffered from bulimia. They were only killing themselves slowly and-

_Suffered._

_Killing themselves._

Natalya shot into an upright position, eye wide and breathing irregular. Katyusha was suffering and killing herself. That was what was going on.

Natalya and Katyusha had never really had a particularly close relationship; at least not since they were both quite young. They didn't talk much or do anything together unless they had to. It was kind of a sad relationship, but neither of them cared at all.

Not until now. Not until Katyusha was forcing her stomach to empty itself and Natalya was hyperventilating and in tears.

"I don't want her to die." The words barely left Natalya's lips as she stood. "I don't… I… I don't want her to die!"

With that, she took off down out of her room and down the stairs, dizzy and panicking with long, blonde hair a blur behind her. "Kat! Kat!" She retraced the steps she took upon getting home, though this time much faster. "Kat!" She skidded to a stop, throwing open the bathroom door. It was dark and empty inside. "Kat!" She took off again, to the kitchen. "K… Kat…" Katyusha didn't even look up at Natalya as she entered; now slowing her frenzied rush to a shuffle. The elder was seated at the table, her head tilted down. Natalya stared a moment, trying to catch her breath. "Kat, please." Katyusha finally looked up at her, just barely.

"…What?" The sharp tone startled Natalya. Her sister was so kindhearted and gentle, almost to the point that it was annoying. That wasn't her.

"I…" Natalya swallowed thickly. "I don't…" Katyusha stood suddenly, shoving the chair behind her harshly.

"If you're going to say something, please do it." Her voice didn't sting as much, but Natalya couldn't talk. She didn't understand. She didn't understand why her sister was doing something so self destructive. She didn't understand why her sister was so angry. And she didn't understand why she herself couldn't speak.

"I…" Natalya's eyes stayed locked onto Katyusha as she walked slowly over to her, looking the girl dead in the eyes. After staring down her trembling little sister for a moment, Katyusha just brushed past her.

"It must be nice to be pretty."

Natalya whirled around as Katyusha walked away.

"I don't want you to die!" Katyusha stopped in her tracks, not daring to move. Natalya didn't move either, aside from her shaking shoulders. "I don't want you to die!" she sobbed again, if only to break the deafening silence. Katyusha sighed.

"Natalya, I'm not going to-"

"Shut up!" Natalya nearly screamed, rushing up to hug her sister around her shoulders from behind. She just sobbed into Katyusha's back, clinging to her as though she would disappear if she didn't.

"N… Natalya…" Prying her sister's arms away -which was no easy feat-, Katyusha turned around. Though she was a mess, with mascara running down her cheek, Natalya was just as beautiful as ever. The curvaceous girl pursed her lips. Natalya couldn't go anywhere without getting compliments, even though her personality wasn't exactly… great. Katyusha, with one of the kindest hearts one could ever find, knew she was nothing if she wasn't pretty. No one cares if you're nice if you're also fat and ugly, right?

She was jealous of Natalya. So, so incredibly jealous.

"There's no reason to cry," Katyusha said gently, placing a hand on Natalya's shoulder.

"I have every reason to cry!" Natalya spat, though through the tears it didn't sound nearly as angry as she wanted it to. She sniffled and looked up at Katyusha through her bangs. "I'll make you something to eat." Katyusha swallowed and shook her head.

"Natalya, I-"

"Just something small," she interrupted. Her voice was so wobbly that Katyusha couldn't even fight her. "I won't force you to eat a bunch if you don't want to."

"You don't have to do that," Katyusha said softly, giving her little sister a small smile.

"But I want to." Katyusha gave her a look. Natalya never wanted to do anything for anyone, unless it was to her benefit in some way.

"What are you-?"

"You're the prettiest person I know." Katyusha blinked quickly, confusion obviously present on her face. Natalya scoffed. "Oh, please. Don't act so surprised."

"B-but you-"

"I what?" Natalya was dead set on not allowing her sister to finish a sentence. "Is this really about me? No, it isn't. This is about you. Now let me make you some food." Natalya turned back to the kitchen, but Katyusha stopped her, grabbing her shoulder again.

"Natalya, why are you doing this?"

"Why am I-? Why would I _not_ be doing this?" She swirled around quickly to where she just had been. "You're my sister, Kat. This is my job. We may not be all that close, but I still c… care about you." She looked away, embarrassed. "I look up to you…" Katyusha smiled, eyes welling with tears. "And I've always wanted to be as pretty as you."

Natalya wasn't expected to be pulled into a hug, especially when the first thing she found was Katyusha's abnormally large breasts in her face. She wiggled a bit, just so she didn't suffocate in her sister's cleavage.

"Natalya, you don't need to look up to me," Katyusha said in a tearful voice. "You're fantastic the way you are."

"No one said I had to," replied the younger. "I just do. Now shut up and let's get through this together."

* * *

><p><em>A note from the author:<em>

_I had no intention of writing this story. It just sort of happened. I really don't have first-hand experience with bulimia, I just know from books, the internet, people I've met, and three particularly unpleasant experiences. So, over the years, I've learned a decent amount about eating disorders (this actually isn't my first story dealing with this particular topic)._

_There really is only one reason this happened._

_I adore the Funimation dub. More so than the sub. And I will openly admit that. But there's _that one line _when Russia's introducing Ukraine that really irks me. I know. 'It's Hetalia don't get so worked up and offended and blah blah'. I don't care. Every time I hear him say 'she's not much to look at' my heart breaks a little._

_Shut up Russia._

_Ukraine is fucking beautiful._

_Then, of course, the message here is even if you don't think you're 'pretty' or 'worth it' or any of those things, there _are_ people that do, and they are there for you._

_Thanks for reading._

_I wish the best for you._


End file.
